The communications minister, Lord Carter, has pledged to deliver broadband to every home in the UK by 2012 and intends to introduce legislation to force internet service providers to crack down on web piracy.

Carter today published the interim Digital Britain report outlining a wide-ranging 22-point action plan that includes launching an "exploratory review" of local and regional media ownership rules and introducing legislation to force internet service providers to crackdown on internet pirates.

"Britain has always led the world in content creation - with the best music, films and TV - and it is vital that we carry forward this strength into the digital age," said the culture secretary, Andy Burnham. "This is a significant report for the creative industries, taking steps to establish workable systems of copyright in an online age and to preserve choice of public service content."

The report said that there had proved to be a lack of support for the preferred option of a co-regulatory solution to internet piracy.

As a result, the government will launch a consultation into a legislative approach to force ISPs to notify illegal downloaders that they are breaking the law.

ISPs will also have to collect anonymous data on the worst offenders along with personal details, on receipt of a court order, so that rights holders can seek to take legal action.

The governement argues that there is evidence from other countries that two-thirds of infringers change their behaviour when they are warned.

Rights-holders, who had been lobbying for ISPs to be forced to cut off the connections of repeat offenders, will be disappointed with the proposal, arguing that it will not achieve the government's aim of cutting illegal filesharing by 80% by 2011.

The government also intends to explore the potential for a rights agency to better legally exploit copyright material. Copyright enforcement could be funded through a "modest and proportionate" contribution from distributors and rights holders.

"It may be that such an independent, objective body may be better able to surmount the mutual tension between rights-holders, publishers, search engines and other content aggregators, the ISPs and the underlying communications network operators and instead broker technical solutions that can command widespread adoption and support," said the report.

"Working together on enforcement and education mean there needs to be clear advantages to all sides – a win/win/win for rights holders, intermediaries and consumers."

Carter confirmed that the government intends to deliver broadband to all homes in the UK by 2012, using a mixture of fixed, mobile and wireless technology. The speed of the service will be "up to" 2Mbps.

"The government says that the commitment should be for 2Mbps access," said Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary. "Given that the national average access speed is 3.6Mbps, isn't the scale of the government's ambitions pitifully low, simply saying it wants to ensure the whole population has access to half the current average speed by 2012?"

Carter's report said the government is inviting the BBC to take a lead role to drive the universal takeup of broadband through "marketing, cross-promotion and the provision of content".

The government said it will not inject public money into helping deliver the next-generation broadband network.

Carter's report said: "The government is not persuaded that there is a case now for widespread UK-wide public subsidy for next generation network deployment, since such widespread subsidy could simply duplicate existing private sector investment plans or indeed chill such plans."

The government threw its backing behind Channel 4 today, signalling that a tie-up between the broadcaster and BBC Worldwide, instead of a merger with Channel Five, was the best way to protect its future.

Hunt said that "most people would be pretty disappointed with this report."

Hunt argued that the Digital Report has offered "no new action, but a total of eight new reports" and questioned whether there was a power struggle going on between the government and Ofcom that may hamper the delivery of digital Britain.

"Without clear leadership the chance of delivering on such huge commitments is minuscule," said Hunt. "So can we have a categorical assurance there is no turf war going on between DCMS, BERR and Ofcom that prevents the government showing the leadership that is so desperately needed?"

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• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".